"Dolphins Have A Mysterious Network Of Veins That Could Be Key To Preventing The Bends" - Matthew Berger
Inside the chests of dolphins and toothed whales there is an anatomical mystery: a maze of tiny, worm-like blood vessels called the “thoracic rete,” the purpose of which has long baffled scientists. Joy Reidenberg, PhD, professor of medical education and anatomist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, thinks she’s figured out what it’s for. If she’s right, it could hold the key to developing a device that could be able to prevent the deadly condition that all divers fear: the bends. Dr. Reidenberg is one of several researchers whose work is narrowing in on how marine species manage to dive down to – and safely return from – the oceans’ depths. And that growing understanding of the anatomy of dolphins, whales, turtles and fish is bringing dreams of allowing human divers to dive deeper, faster, and more safely a little bit closer to reality. Dr. Reidenberg is still searching for funding to pursue a bends-preventing diving device, but in the meantime she has already begun trying to learn from the animals’ lungs. In a new collaboration, she has teamed with other researchers to map the vascular system of a fetal whale in an effort to figure out how whale lungs change their elasticity and how we can apply that to reversing lung diseases like emphysema in humans.
- Joy S. Reidenberg, PhD, Professor, Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai